A Different Kind of Wizard
by EmeraldGuardian7
Summary: The balance of life and death is a complicated matter. With the price paid by the destruction of the Horcrux inside his scar, Harry could not move onto the afterlife that night in the forest, but neither could he go back to a world where he had just died. Instead he was sent elsewhere. Who knows, maybe Earth-Land and a guild named Fairy Tail will be just what Harry Potter needs?


**Chapter 1:**

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _I know I've been gone from the site for a while. Sorry about that. Real life has been busy and I've been working a few writing projects behind the scenes for a while. I recently got back into Fairy Tail after a year or so break from the series and it inspired me to try a crossover again. I honestly can say I don't know where I'm going with this in the end. I can't promise how far it will continue, when it will update or any of that stuff. This will probably be one of those stories that gets updated whenever inspiration strikes me. That being said, the Harry Potter / Fairy Tail section is somewhat lacking content other than rehashes of Fairy Tail members go to Hogwarts fics so I'm hoping this will be a bit different. So please leave me a follow & a favorite if you like this and if you have time consider writing a review to let me know what you think. Enjoy!_

* * *

"I've got to go back, haven't I?" Harry asked.

This conversation had been a time of many firsts when speaking to his dead headmaster. Dumbledore had been more open with him now than he ever had been in life. He'd shared the truth behind all of his carefully laid plans and even the history between him and Grindelwald that he'd so recently learned of from Aberforth. He'd learned the truth about the Deathly Hallows or at least what his old Headmaster had thought was the truth about them in the end. Throughout this, he'd seen Dumbledore smile, he'd seen him proud, he'd seen him ashamed, and he'd seen him cry. It was a wide range of emotions, but all of it had been displayed genuinely without hesitation in a way he'd never seen before. It was this question of Harry's, however, that was the first time in the conversation that he'd seen him falter.

"You said I wasn't dead?" Harry prodded, "Do I have to move on anyway?"

A remarkable calmness had set over him during his time in this strange white void. A small voice in the back of his head was telling him that he shouldn't be able to discuss his own mortal demise with such ambivalence, but at that moment he couldn't find the energy to care.

"You will be in fact ' _moving on'_ in a certain fashion," the old wizard said. "But not in the way you may think, and while it had been my intention during life that this situation would allow you to return to the world you know, it seems that it will not be possible."

"So I will be joining you?" He asked. Was it wrong that he almost longed for this more than a return to life? "And my parents… and Sirius?"

"Unfortunately, that will not be possible either."

"I don't understand."

"While you were indeed hit by the killing curse, the toll -shall we call it?- Yes, the toll was paid by the sliver of Voldemort's soul residing in your scar," Dumbledore folded his hands together before him. "Because of this, and the fact that Voldemort himself bound you to life by taking in your blood, as I explained earlier, you will be unable to join with your family at this time. However, it seems in all my planning, I made a mistake in assuming that you would so easily be able to return to a world where you, in all technicality, should have died. I cannot apologize for that enough."

A rising sense of panic was starting to disrupt that strange calmness from before, "What does this mean? Am I stuck here? In between? Will I be a ghost?"

The old man shook his head, "No, you do not need to worry about that. You will be soon sent to a new world instead."

"A new world?" Harry wasn't sure what to think. "What does that even mean?"

"The universe you lived in is only one of an infinite number that exists in the multiverse," he explained. "Some are nearly identical to the one you know, the only differences being that you decided to have an extra helping of treacle tart for dessert one night, while others are so different and so strange that they would be completely unrecognizable to you now. There are whole universes in which neither you nor I were ever even born."

"I- I don't know what to say…" It was a crazy concept to believe, but based on where he was currently sitting and who he was currently talking to, he didn't doubt it for a second.

"It's a lot to take in," Dumbledore admitted. "Unfortunately, it is one of the latter types of universes that you must be sent."

Harry felt his eyes widening, and that rising sense of panic from before shot up several levels, "But… but…"

"You will be arriving on a world called Earth-Land," the older wizard continued. "Magic is an intrinsic part of this world where it's users are able to walk openly and without fear among non-magicals. It is an amazing feat of cohabitation that would never have been possible in our own world. It is my sincerest hope that you will finally be able to find the kind of life that you have long been denied."

Harry couldn't deny that the idea of witches and wizards being able to live openly in peace with muggles was appealing, but that wasn't his issue with all of this, "But I can't just go to another world! What about my friends? What about Voldemort? He's still alive!"

"I'm sorry to say I can't do anything about your friends. In their eyes, you gave your life trying to protect them," he said sadly. "As for Voldemort, that burden is no longer yours to bear. By sacrificing yourself as you did, you have protected them all from Voldemort just like your mother did for you. He cannot touch them now."

Harry's mouth opened in surprise, "Really?"

Dumbledore nodded, a proud twinkle in his eye, "Indeed. I can also tell you that Mr. Longbottom took your words to heart and will manage to finish Nagini with the Sword of Gryffindor. Voldemort will be overwhelmed shortly after that, and the last remaining piece of his soul will move on soon. There will be no more casualties of the war today apart from Bellatrix Lestrange at the hands of Molly Weasley."

Harry hadn't realized how much pressure he had been holding until it had all finally fallen away at that moment. Was this what it felt like to be normal? He still wasn't exactly happy that he was going to be leaving his friends behind, or even the fact that he would soon be plopped into an unfamiliar world, but now knowing for a certainty that his business on Earth had been concluded, the prospect of this new adventure didn't seem as horrible. If anything, at least no one here would know his name. He could hardly imagine how much worse the press would have gotten if he had been the one to bring down Voldemort once more and lived to tell about it.

"I see," Harry said. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Most things you will figure out for yourself, but I can all tell you that in Earth-Land, wizards usually band together in something called guilds. Its where wizards are able to get jobs and such. If that is the path you decide to follow, I would recommend seeking one out upon your arrival so that can make some means of supporting yourself," he said.

Harry ran his hand idly through his hair as he disseminated this information.

"That's good to know," he sighed. "I have a feeling that this world isn't going to be as simple and easy as you are making it sound."

The old wizard simply smiled, "As I said before, I only wish you the best going forward."

As he spoke, it was as if an invisible fog had started to roll into the void where they sat. Dumbledore was fading away before his very eyes, and so was Harry's own body. What the hell was going on?

"Good luck Harry," the final words of his headmaster rolled across his ears at barely a whisper.

The bright light of his surroundings was dimming, and before he knew it, everything around him was pitch black. It was disorienting and uncomfortable, but he didn't have to endure it for long as unconsciousness crept up upon him.

* * *

As awareness returned to him, it didn't take Harry long to realize he was outside. In fact, based off of the damp earthy smell, and the soft rustling of leaves in the wind, he wouldn't have believed he'd even left the Forbidden Forest at all. Could that have all been a dream? Had he actually survived Voldemort's killing curse without any repercussions? He wasn't sure that was the case. Even without having opened his eyes, the amount of light shining against his eyelids suggested daytime.

Harry contemplated this for a few moments. Despite laying on the ground, he was actually feeling pretty good overall. There was a strange lightness about his person that hadn't been there before as if some great pressure that he hadn't even known had been weighing him down, was now gone. He wondered if that was the Horcrux. He had been living with a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head for sixteen years without knowing it; he was bound to feel a bit different with it gone. He knew how bad just wearing one of those things had been.

Harry finally opened his eyes. It took a second for his vision to clear, but when it did, he was not surprised to see a maze of crisscrossing branches and green leaves above him, blotting out the sky. The trees were large and clearly old, but it was obvious to him right away that this was not the forbidden forest. He couldn't explain it exactly, but he was just able to tell that it was different. This fact in and of itself was no indication that his strange conversation with Dumbledore had been anything more than a dream. Magic was strange and unpredictable, he could have been transported to any other forest on Earth somehow for all he knew, but he didn't believe it. Something in his gut told him that Dumbledore had been right. He was in another world.

With a grunt, Harry pulled himself into a seated position, something else tumbling off his chest as he did so. Looking down at the dirt covered ground, he paused for a moment, before reaching down tentatively to pick up a familiar looking wand. The Elder Wand.

It was quite long for a wand, or at least longer than he was accustomed to. His trusty holly and phoenix feather wand had been shorter, coming in at eleven inches. This one had to be at least a few inches longer, maybe fourteen or fifteen in total. Its wood was of a lighter tone than both his own and the one he'd taken from Draco Malfoy during their escape from his family's manor. Those weren't the only peculiar things about it though, as Harry was quick to examine the strange carvings running down its length. He couldn't garner any meaning from them and actually thought they looked a bit like clusters of elderberries.

Harry continued to turn it over in his hands, almost a feeling a bit awed that he was holding such a relic of myth and legend in his hands. He couldn't help but wonder how it had gotten here. Voldemort had been holding it when he had killed him. It didn't make sense. A strange glint on one of his fingers quickly told Harry this wasn't the only thing that had come along with him for the trip. The resurrection stone sat back within its intact ring, which in turn sat upon his finger, looking as if it had never met the business end of the Sword of Gryffindor.

Harry's heart rate accelerated. This was the one Hallow that he had longed for beyond all others. The one that would allow him to see his parents, Sirius, now even Remus and Tonks… but he wasn't sure if that was such a good idea anymore. He'd used it once, when he'd needed there strength to go to his end. Now they were even farther apart than before. What would he even say to them? Would they begrudge him for getting a second, no third chance at life where they had lost theirs. No, he wouldn't give into the temptation of the stone. He would need to consider it's use carefully… that is if he ever ended up using it at all.

With that sorted out, it wasn't hard to spot his invisibility cloak where it lay, pooled on the ground beside him. He was not shocked at its appearance by this point. Having already seen the other two Hallows, it only made sense that it would be here too. In all honesty, it was comforting to have it back with him. It was a family heirloom, and at least one thing he could keep that had shared in all his past adventures.

He climbed to his feet, stuffing the soft silvery material of his cloak into one of his pockets. Harry glanced around once again. All he could see was uninterrupted forest in every direction, minus what looked to be a small mountain in the distance. Where was he supposed to go? How would he find a city?

"Point me," he said, and the elder wand spun quickly upon his open palm like a compass needle, coming to a stop slightly to his right.

Even knowing which direction was north didn't help him much since he had no other points of reference. With this realization, Harry let out a sigh and stowed the wand away. He only spent a few more moments in consideration before he decided on a course of action and he began walking towards the distant mountain. It was the only real landmark he had to go by. For all he knew, there could be a settlement of some kind nearby, and at very worst, the height could give him a chance to look at the surrounding area.

With nothing else to distract him but the passing trees, Harry's thoughts turned to his friends once more. Dumbledore had assured him that they were ok, but that didn't make any of this any easier. He just hoped that Ron and Hermione would move on from his supposed death without too much trouble. Voldemort would be gone now so they should be able to make a life for themselves. He'd seen them kiss during the battle. Hopefully, they'd be there for each other going forward.

Harry wiped his eyes, only just having noticed the few tears that had escaped. He was going to miss them, but if he was given this second chance for a reason, he wasn't going to waste it. No matter how much of a struggle it would be, he would need to work on moving on. It wasn't just Ron and Hermione that were plaguing his thoughts either. Ginny was weighing heavily upon his conscious. Though it had remained unsaid at the time, there had been this unspoken promise in the air that they would have tried again once all of this was over. It seemed like this was just one more thing that he had failed at. Harry was under no illusions that he could claim with any certainty that he had been in love with her. Though he had known her for years, he had only really gotten to know her in his sixth year, and the time they had actually spent dating had been short. He definitely liked her, there was no doubt about that, but they had not been together long enough for him to be sure of anything beyond that. The majority of his feelings towards her at the moment were of guilt at not being able to return after the war.

"What's this?" A voice growled out of the depths of the forest. "A puny human wandering around on his own?"

Harry drew the Elder Wand in a flash, his eyes darting across the shadowy trees around him. "Who's there?"

There was a loud roar, and something was suddenly charging towards him. Harry barely managed to dive out of the way in time as something crashed heavily past him into the thick underbrush, hitting a tree with a loud crash. Rolling across the ground, he came back up a moment later, pushing himself into a crouched position. Whatever he had been expecting to see, it had not been this. The creature that had attacked him looked like some kind of strange overgrown gorilla. It was covered in a dark green fur that he figured was to help it blend into the plant life around it, though it lacked this on its face, hands, and chest, which showed off its pale purple skin. He wasn't sure how big it was exactly, but he was pretty sure that it stood just a bit taller than Hagrid.

"GAH! Why won't you stay still!" The creature exclaimed lumbering back around as it held it's head in its hands, heaving just pulled it free from the tree trunk it had crashed into after missing its attack on him. "I'm hungry and want fresh meat!"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Harry muttered as he eyed his opponent.

With another loud roar, it was charging once more.

"Stupefy!" He cried.

The red coloured spell raced from the tip of his wand, splashing across the monkey-like creature's chest. As soon as he'd cast it, Harry had doubted its usefulness. He'd seen how many stunning spells Hagrid had been able to shrug off in the past as if it were nothing, and this thing was even bigger. It was widely known that magical creatures tended to have a resistance to certain kinds of spells. It was because of this that Harry was actually surprised to see that his attack did manage to stagger it, if only momentarily.

It's footsteps slowed, and Harry could actually see creature's eyes start to grow noticeably heavy. His luck ran out only a moment later though when it seemed to finally manage to fight off the effects of the spell, and now it just looked all the more pissed off. Without waiting around any longer, Harry pointed his wand at the creature's legs, casting a silent incarcerous. Thin cords shot from the end of his wand and snaked their way around his opponent's relatively short legs before pulling tight and causing him to topple over.

The creature howled in frustration, its hands already moving to claw at the ropes that bound it. Harry knew they wouldn't take much to break, so he moved in right away. There was another flash of red light, and the creature was unconscious. It seemed that whatever magical resistance it did have, it didn't protect it from a stunning spells shot from point-blank range to the head. That coupled with the extra power he'd forced into the spell had made sure it was effective. Glancing down once more, he contemplated the Elder Wand. He knew he wouldn't have been able to do something like before. ' _Most powerful wand in existence'_ indeed. He was sure the different Deathly Hallows each hid many secrets of their own, something he'd have to work on uncovering over time.

Harry surveyed the scene for another few moments. I was easy to tell that something had gone down here from the collection of deep footprints the creature had left behind as well as the damage it had done to the surrounding trees. He wasn't sure how long his spell would keep the ape down, and he didn't fancy having to kill it. He had just arrived in this world and still didn't know what exactly this thing was. He needed to learn more about his new home before he went around slaying different magical creatures. With that in mind, he set off once more.

Once he'd put enough distance between him and his last encounter, Harry slowed down. The sky was darkening, and he still had no idea where he was, though he was getting quite close to the base of the mountain at this point. Nonetheless, he decided to stop for the night. Much like he, Ron, and Hermione had been doing for at least the past six months, he began casting the protective enchantments around his temporary campsite.

"Protego Totalum," he murmured walking the perimeter of the very small clearing he had found. The air shimmered ever so slightly in a dome shape around him. "Salvio Hexia. Muffliato. Cave Inimicum."

Harry's voice had grown somewhat thick at the end of the routine. Hermione had usually been the one to do the enchantments though he had done them sometimes. Having to do them now had just very suddenly driven home the fact that he was never going to see them ever again. Sitting down at the base of one of the large trees near the edge of the clearing, Harry's hands fisted in the dirt. Taking a few deep breaths, he did his best to push to it all away. He'd promised himself earlier that he'd moved past it. It hadn't seemed so bad at that point, so why was it suddenly coming back to hit him so strongly now? This whole thing was ridiculous! Who dies only to be sent away to some foreign world instead? Couldn't he have just been allowed to rest with his family instead? It was unfair!

The sound of a loud growl hitting his ears instantly put Harry on edge. Glancing around at his rapidly darkening surroundings, he couldn't spot anything. It was only when he heard it again a few moments later, and this time noticed the way his stomach ached when he did, that he realized what the noise had been.

When was the last time he had eaten? Before he had woken up here, it had been the battle at Hogwarts. He obviously hadn't been eating there. Right before that had been their daring break in to Gringotts. They hadn't had time to eat between that and their heading to Hogwarts. Their last meal had to have been at Bill and Fleur's that morning. That meant he hadn't had any food in at least thirty-six hours!

His stomach grumbled once more. This wasn't something he was unused to. He'd been starved, or at least given the bare minimum, often enough as a child when living with his Aunt and Uncle that this didn't phase him. They'd gone through this quite often during their past year on the run as well. He'd need to find something though, and some water as well. Getting dehydrated was not a good idea.

Picking up a smooth stone from the ground nearby, Harry busied himself with transfiguring it into a serviceable cup. A few moments later, he found himself content with his finished product. It wouldn't be winning any awards, but it should hold water with no problem.

"Aguamenti," he said, pointing his wand at the cup.

The water shot forth from the tip of his wand much faster than he'd anticipated. Dialing back the power right away, he still managed to soak part of his trousers anyway. Harry sighed. At least no one was around to see that. Another wave of his wand dried him out in seconds.

The water was crisp and clear like usual, and he gulped it all down in one go. He filled up a few more times after that to get his fill. It helped that the water helped take away some of the symptoms of his hunger, something he'd learned long ago. He was already kicking himself for allowing things to go this far. He'd need to try his hand at transfiguring a water bottle for the next day.

Attempting to stretch out a bit, Harry groaned. His legs were killing him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had to walk this far. Sleeping on the ground was not going to help any of this one bit. After all the times that he had cursed that infernal magical tent, awaiting the day he could finally be done with it, he now wished he had it with him once more. Deciding to just settle his back against the tree once again, he let out a pained breath.

Night was falling over the forest, and yet the sky remained bright from the multitudes of stars twinkling high above. Harry didn't think he'd ever seen that many stars before outside of the clear nights of his astronomy class atop Hogwarts' tallest tower. The light pollution had always been too bad back in Surrey for sights like this to be possible, and he was not exaggerating when he said it was gorgeous. The moon looked like it was nearly full, shining it's silvery light down on him. At least this was one thing that hadn't changed from one world to the next.

Even through all of this, the mountain that he had currently set as his destination was still visible to him. It rose nearby as a pitch black silhouette cutting off a good quarter of his view of the sky. It was probably close enough now that in the morning he might even be able to apparate the rest of the way. Even with a destination in mind, he'd been too wary to attempt it before since he hadn't had enough details on where to land. He did want to splinch himself here in a world where the people may or may not know how to help him.

If he had been able to apparate, it would have cut out a lot of his earlier struggles… that or his broom. Oh what he wouldn't give to have his broom. Soaring above the tree tops sounded infinitely more appealing than walking for miles and miles. He wondered if this world even had flying brooms. It would be something to look into later once the much more important question of how he was going to feed himself was answered. Worst come to worst, he'd have to go hunting sometime the next day.

Letting his head rest back against the hard tree bark as well, Harry closed his eyes. He hadn't realized until that moment how tired he really was. So much had happened since the last time he'd slept normally, his trip between worlds notwithstanding. He knew he had to conserve energy for the trials yet to come. And so it was, his mind still drifting back to the thought of flying and how much he missed it, Harry fell into a deep sleep propped upwards against a tree in the meadow surrounded by protective enchantments.

* * *

Harry had always been a light sleeper. It came with the territory when he had to rise bright and early every morning to cook breakfast for his relatives. It wasn't a consistent time either, so he'd trained himself to be ready a moment's notice, which in reality was whenever his Aunt decided she felt it was time that day. Come too early and he'd be in trouble for getting her way, come in too late and being the 'ungrateful brat' that was trying to make his cousin and Uncle late. Harry was pretty sure that she had just liked being able to keep him constantly on edge.

All of this contributed to why he was woken up the next morning by an ear-splitting, earth-rumbling roar. It was way more overkill than his normal alarm.

Harry was ready in an instant, though that wasn't saying much seeing as how his sole possessions consisted of the wand in his hand, the ring on his finger, and the cloak currently stuff in his back pocket. Another roar echoed through the air and left Harry realing. Whatever this thing was, it sounded a million times more dangerous than the weird gorilla-like creature from the day before. If he were smart, he would have left right then and there, doing his absolute best to avoid crossing paths with whatever this thing was. Exceptional intelligence had always been Hermione's thing though. Too be fair, Harry had been planning on making the smart choice… until of course he'd heard the scream.

It was barely audible over the wind that carried it, but it was without a doubt the voice of a woman. Was she being attacked by whatever it was that was making that noise? Harry's head whipped around trying to isolate its direction, but it didn't take a genius to figure out it was coming from the mountain. Narrowing his eyes, he could spot a small cliff from where he was standing. He would have preferred something better, but at least it would give him a aerial view of the situation. It would have to do.

Pulling his wand, Harry focused in on where he wanted to go.

 _Destination._

 _Determination._

 _Deliberation._

Twisting on the spot, Harry disappeared from his small clearing with a loud crack. A half a second later, he appeared with a small pop up on the cliff he had spotted from afar. Harry stumbled forward a step or two before he managed to regain his footing. Apparition was convenient if still not the most comfortable. He still preferred a broom any day.

Moving to the edge of the cliff, his eyes scanned for the source of the disturbance he'd heard. It ended up taking absolutely no time at all. One couldn't look down at the base of the mountain and miss what was happening. Harry wasn't even sure how to describe it, but some rhino-looking monstrosity was bearing down on a woman who looked to be wearing a set of silver armour. Instead of running away like any rational person would in this situation, she was standing her ground.

Harry was so shocked that he couldn't even move. Something flashed in the woman's hands that he couldn't quite see and before he even knew what was happening, she was swinging a weapon to meet the creatures charge. Harry goggled as he watched the outcome. The whole mountain shook as the creature was diverted away by the swing, only to slam into the rock of the cliff face, knocking all kinds of rubble free. The woman didn't get off scot-free either though, as she skidded backward, leaving long skid marks behind her from where he feet had dug into the ground.

While this all sounded good and impressive on its own, it didn't quite do justice to the accomplishment that Harry had just witnessed. He would later realize how important it was to note just how large this creature actually was. It was impossible for him to give a precise measurement from just sight alone, but he was comfortable enough to say that the creature's large horn alone was taller than the woman who was facing it. It was already ramping up for another charge, and the armoured woman was preparing herself for another counter. Harry knew he had to help somehow.

He didn't really take the time to think things through. Twisting on the spot, he disappeared once more with a crack, this time popping into existence back on the ground. If he'd thought that the giant rhino-like creature had been intimidating from above, having the earth shake with each thunderous step as it charged towards you was even worse.

"What?" The woman, who he now saw looked to be barely any older than himself, was staring at him in shock.

Harry just stared back awkwardly, not really sure what to say. That little moment between them was quickly broken when the reality of their situation reasserted itself. Cursing out loud, the woman spun back to face the incoming threat, barely managing to deflect the blow away from herself once more, this time flying backward and rolling across the ground like a loud clanking ragdoll.

That couldn't be good.

He'd been trying to help, but it seems like he'd only made things worse.

The creature snorted loudly and pawed at the ground as its gaze locked back on the downed form of the woman in armour. It took one step forward… and then another… already starting to pick up speed.

"BOMBARDA!" Harry found himself yelling, and the ground before the creature exploded with a loud bang, dust and stone shrapnel flying every which way. Another flick of his wand right after made sure none of that debris hit the one he was trying to protect.

The extra-large rhino creature skidded to a stop, tossing its head in agitation. Jabbing his wand forward one more time, a similar explosion from before sprang into existence, except this time it was near the creature's face. Letting out another ear-shattering roar, it turned itself around to face Harry. If it hadn't been angry before, it certainly was now. It began to run.

' _Sectumsempra!'_ Harry's mind screamed as he slashed his wand before him.

He wasn't sure if it would have an effect, but the dark magic succeeded in opening a variety of different cuts across the thing's face. The resulting roar told him that the beast was clearly in pain, but it didn't slow down one bit. It seemed it was very much intent on ending him. Harry tried raining exploding curses down on the ground before it once more, but this time it just plowed right through the rubble.

He was starting to get nervous. What should he do now? He couldn't just disapparate away and leave her here. His grip tightened on his wand. What to do… what to do…

' _Velox Harenae,'_ a voice started whispering into the back of his mind, and suddenly he could see exactly how he could stop it.

Recounting the incantation on his mind, Harry brought the tip of his glowing wand down to hit the earth. The ground rippled out before him as if it were the surface of a large pond, and just as suddenly, the monster before him was sinking.

The quicksand trap, a bastardized mixture of charms and transfiguration that temporarily changed the state of the ground beneath a target, pulling them in then trapping them in place with solid stone.

It was an amazing piece of magic… really… but there was only one problem. Harry had never heard of it once in his whole life, and yet he had just pulled it off flawlessly like a master who had been studying his field for decades, not the seventeen year-old Hogwarts dropout that he was.

The ground began to rumble, drawing his attention away from those questions for the moment. The creature was struggling to get free, and to Harry's amazement seemed to actually be making some progress. Stone and dirt that held it down was starting to crack. Just how strong was this thing?

There was a bright flash of white light in the corner of his vision, "Requip, Heaven's Wheel Armor!"

Harry wasn't sure how it had happened, but the girl was back up, and she wearing a completely new set of armor. This one was definitely more flashy than the last one. It was heavily plated with large metal wing-like constructs that shot out from her back. Her stomach was completely bare, and while her chest was bound by several small plates of steel as well, it left the tops of her breasts open to the air. Her long crimson hair was blowing slightly in a non-existent breeze, though most of it ran down her back with a few strands hanging limply over her right eye. She made for a fearsome image… like a beautiful warrior goddess coming to exact her just vengeance on some unknown foe.

It was only then that he noticed the swords. There was at least a dozen of them present, all floating in the air around the girl. With a motion of her hand and a small battlecry, they all shot forth at once. Was this what magic was like here? They whizzed past Harry, striking their targets in a sequence of meaty thumps that was followed up by one last pained roar before everything fell still and silent.

"Greetings Stranger," she was walking towards him now. Her whole body flashed with white light again, and she was once more decked out in her more conservative set of armour from before. It was composed of a one piece breastplate that covered her entire torso with a golden cross-like design running along its front and a strange red symbol on the one side. "I wanted to thank you for the assistance there at the end when I was knocked down."

She glanced over at the still mostly submerged corpse of the monster she had slayed. "I must say, you have an impressive magic."

Harry ran his hands through his hair nervously, feeling a bit awkward. He had a feeling she would have been able to handle it all herself if he hadn't got in the way, "Yeah… thanks. I feel like I should be apologizing though. I'd thought you could use some help, but I think I just made things worse in the end."

The girl's expression which before been nothing beyond professional did soften ever so slightly, "I will admit your arrival did startle me a bit, but it seems your intentions were pure. Forgive me, I'd be remiss not to introduce myself. My name is Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail. What guild are you from?"

"My name's Harry Potter, and… uh… well," he scuffed his shoe in the dirt, "I'm not actually in a guild yet per say."

Erza's eyes widened, "What? With that amount of power… how have you not been recruited before?"

"You could say I'm very new to the area," he hedged.

"New?" She asked. "As in, new to Fiore?"

Harry hesitated for a moment before just deciding he might as well go all in, "Honestly, I don't even know what Fiore is. I could try and explain where I'm from, but I'm not sure I should. Would I be wrong in assuming that you won't believe me if I say that I just arrived here accidentally from an entirely different world… or dimension… or whatever it's actually called. I'm not really comfortable with the all the lingo yet myself."

Harry hadn't really been sure what kind of reaction he'd get to that statement, but he could admit that Erza's gobsmacked expression did not disappoint.


End file.
